Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and fitness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Tim Borys, CEO of FRESH! Wellness Group, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At FRESH!, we help busy corporate professionals find the energy, vitality, and fitness to perform their best at work and home. On the flip side, we also help companies provide a better workplace experience for their people.
Call us optimists, but we believe that life is awesome and packed with potential for everyone to thrive. Sadly, the reality is very different for most people. Nowhere is this more true than in the corporate world. For too many people, work sucks; they are unhealthy, inactive, stressed out, disengaged from their greatness, and struggle to imagine how they can turn it around. The great news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. You possess the power to create the change you’ve dreamed about. Our job (and passion) is to help you uncover that power in yourself. Are you sick and tired of being sick, tired, and stressed? Or, are you a leader looking to help your people be healthier, happier, and perform better? Let us be your guide to a better workplace and life!
Tell us about yourself
Over 30 years ago, I started as a personal trainer and realized that with the fitness skill set I was taught, I wasn’t able to help everyone who came to see me. This sent me on a journey to learn the skills needed to help my clients, and I realized it had very little to do with fitness. To this day, my team and I are driven by this learning journey and helping people and companies overcome the barriers, challenges, and obstacles holding them back from greatness (Pro Tip…it’s rarely about another set of burpees in the gym).
The traditional model of fitness and wellness is broken. People need real-world knowledge, skills, and success plans rather than the latest fad workout or mindfulness app. While these may be great tools in a person’s toolbox, they aren’t a clear strategy or plan for success that’s customized to your unique needs. For 30 years, it’s been our mission to provide the knowledge, guidance, and skills people need to thrive in work and life. This looks different for every person and company.
Here are a few of the ways we help our private and corporate clients: private or small group personal training, lifestyle coaching, executive coaching, workplace wellness consulting, corporate wellness program management, employee training, and development programs, educational workshops, motivation speeches, corporate keynotes. All of our programs can be delivered online or in person.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is to keep finding new ways to help clients and to help more people each year without reducing the quality of service and information we provide. When I started my career, it was almost exclusively private personal training. Since relatively few people can afford those customized and exclusive services, my team and I looked for ways to improve access to high-quality health, fitness, and wellbeing resources.
This includes writing The Fitness Curveball books that detail the FRESH! Coaching philosophy and the steps we take our private clients through each day. (www.thefitnesscurveball.com) For those that are more visual learners, we’ve taken the content from the books and created a series of on-demand personal performance workshops (www.freshgroup.ca/learn)
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest (yet most exciting) things that come with being a business owner is to adapt to changing business and market conditions while also staying true to your values and philosophy and continuing to service your existing members. COVID has made this much more challenging, but with every challenge comes great opportunity. We’ve been able to help clients solve unique pandemic-related challenges while also connecting with and helping people from all over the country and globe. This is truly an exciting time of transition for people, fitness, and the corporate world.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
The biggest tip for anyone looking to start, run, and grow a business today is to cultivate a growth mindset. This means approaching life and business as an experiment and learning opportunity. Mistakes are inevitable and even desired. Those who succeed are the ones that look for ways to test their assumptions, absorb the lessons from their mistakes, learn from others, and choose to move bravely forward, knowing that every experience is a chance to learn, grow, and be better.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
If you are struggling to accomplish your goals, frustrated with your progress, or see caring for your health and fitness as a chore, I encourage you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. We live in the most affluent time in history, with the most access to information and resources than at any other time in history…and most of it is free. Yet, as a society, we are less healthy, have greater stress, are less happy, and are less fulfilled than ever before. It’s clear that what most people have been doing isn’t working. There is a more simple and easier way to be healthy, happy and thrive in work and life. It simply requires a different perspective. If you are ready to ignite your potential and open to learning a new perspective, then I encourage you to reach out. Let’s chat. Just contact us through our website or DM us on social.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://freshgroup.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freshfitnesscalgary
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freshfitcalgary/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/freshfitcalgary
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timborys/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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